A Man Called Ove Written and Directed by Hannes Holm; based on the novel by Fredrick Backman Starring: Rolf Lassgard, Bahar Pars, Ida Engvoll Ove is a Swedish curmudgeon with OCD. Only the occasional person will bother to find the softy underneath. When the story opens, his wife has died and he is attempting to join her. If this sounds grim, it is in spots. But the grimness gives way to humor or sentiment quickly. And yet it never lets the story run away with it. A Man Called Ove is about as faithful to its source as any movie I’ve seen this year. It took the strengths of the book, cast it perfectly, and told the story efficiently and...

Written and Directed by Andrea Arnold Starring Sasha Lane, Shia LaBeouf, Riley Keough Andrea Arnold’s American Honey brilliantly captures the aimless, lost generation now designated the millennials. This is a road picture that finds no romance on the road itself, but only in the gyrating bodies and music of a vagabond group of magazine salesmen lead by its quasi-cult leader, Krystal. We make the journey along with Star, a nineteen year old with no place to go and nothing to do although none of the dozen youth in her van sees life very differently. They are content to knock on doors by day and have sex, smoke pot, and dance at night....

Somebody wants more awards. In a move designed to qualify for 2016 awards, Warner Bros has announced that LIVE BY NIGHT, the Ben Affleck directed Dennis Lehane drama, will have a limited release on December 25th. The nation wide release will remain Jan. 13. Interestingly enough, the 25th had previously been set for the national release, only to be pushed back into January. “Live by Night” is set in the roaring `20s when Prohibition hasn’t stopped the flow of booze in an underground network of gangster-run speakeasies. The opportunity to gain power and money is there for any man with enough ambition and nerve and Joe Coughlin, the son of the...

On this day, in 1992, Quentin Tarantino made his directorial debut with the crime drama RESERVOIR DOGS. The film starred Harvey Keitel, Michael Madsen, Steve Buscemi, Chris Penn, Lawrence Tierney and Tim Roth. The film cost just over one million and made close 3 million, but the buzz made Tarantino red hot and gave him the credibility to draw in Bruce Willis and John Travolta for PULP FICTION. The film ended up revitalized the career of Travolta. Tarantino is an admitted film junkie and borrowed from other films, while crafting his own style with smart, snappy dialogue. Most of the cast would go on to work with Quentin again over the years....

Directed by Tate Taylor Written by Erin Cressida Wilson, based on the novel by Paula Hawkins Starring: Emily Blunt, Haley Bennett, Rebecca Ferguson, Justin Theroux, Luke Evans, Alison Janney Because I went into the theater with such low expectations, my initial reaction to THE GIRL ON A TRAIN was it was better than the reviews. But in the five days since then, it’s become apparent that whatever suspense, characterization, and craft found in the book (I didn’t read it) was absent in the film. When I tried to describe its strengths to some friends who were fans of the book, I came up short. In THE GIRL ON A TRAIN, we spend a lot...

ELLA BRENNAN: COMMANDING THE TABLE Director Leslie Iwerks World Premiere at the New Orleans Film Festival Run time 96 min At the age of ninety, Ella Brennan stands in her kitchen looking like a captain guiding her crew through a storm. She checks each plate, expedites service, and makes sure everything leaving the kitchen at Commanders Palace is up to her exacting specifications. The very next moment, she is dancing through the dining room, making jokes, kissing cheeks, and making sure that everyone feels like they are family at her landmark restaurant. But it was a very tough road to get there. This documentary focused on the amazing life...